


Animal Magnetism

by leonine_eagle



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Alternate Universe - His Dark Materials Fusion, Art, Drabble, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-23 05:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9642785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leonine_eagle/pseuds/leonine_eagle
Summary: Merlin and Arthur cannot stand each other. Their daemons, on the other hand, have been inseparable since the moment they met. What could possibly go wrong?I suck at titles so bad...Mixed media - watercolour, acrylic, photoshop to fix the mistakes :P





	1. In which there are pratly prats and scheming daemons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [geode](https://archiveofourown.org/users/geode/gifts).



> Dear planetgin, I hope you like it! I saw your prompt as was just like YES THAT. ALL THE THINGS.

Merlin winced as he heard the armour he had spent hours cleaning clatter to the floor ahead of him. He  _told_ the bloody prat that he wouldn't be able to carry it all, Merlin didn't  _care_ that Arthur had been "training since birth to deal with any situation that befell me,  _Merlin_ , I think I can carry some armour up a few measly flights of stairs". And now the git had dropped it. There would be  _scratches_. Scratches that Merlin had just got out!

He fumed, lengthening his stride to catch up with Arthur - Crown Prince or no, if Arthur was going to be careless with Merlin's work then Merlin would be careless with his tongue! Wait. Not like that. Although... maybe a little like that? 

As he rounded the corner to the entrance of Arthur's chambers, he took a deep breath, ready to start yelling, when he too stumbled to a stop in front of the open door. The room was a tip - almost as if Merlin hadn't tidied it in the first place. And there, in the centre, the two culprits; Archimedes dive-bombing Cernunnos' great antlered head, veering up sharply and cawing playfully as the deer daemon mock-charged. Merlin sighed. At least those two got along. It was just that their humans didn't. As always with Merlin, he was an anomaly; it was highly unusual for two daemons to bond so quickly and completely without their human counterparts doing so as well. 

He glanced across at Arthur, noting the scowl on his face miserably, all his earlier anger forgotten. Arthur must have felt him looking, and turned away from the scene of devastation, a smirk on his face.

"I don't know what you're grinning about,  _Merlin_ , but I feel I ought to remind you that  _you're_ the one who's going to be clearing this mess up!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that Arthur's a bit of a dick, I'm going to blame, it on UST :P I might continue this at some point, make it into an actual story instead of a random stream of consciousness that I'm writing at 1am.
> 
> Close-ups of Merlin, Archimedes and Cernunnos in the next chapter!


	2. Close-ups

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The actual, non-photoshopped Merlin, Archimedes and Cernnunos, and a few of my personal headcanons.

Merlin

Archimedes. I think a magpie fits Merlin better than an owl - in reality corvids are much, much cleverer than owls, one of the few animals other than humans to use tools by working out what they need for the problem that they face, instead of just learning from observing adults. Not to mention the stereotype of loving shiny things; let's be honest, Merlin has definitely been distracted by Arthur hair shining on numerous occasions! Magpies are also quite mischievous, so I think that that is a bit of a let out for the non-conforming side of Merlin before he really gets to know Arthur and is chafing a bit about no longer being his own person, being constantly told what to do.

Painting him was interesting, I (somehow) managed to paint a black and white bird without using any black or white! 

\

Cernnunos. I debated having a lion for Arthur - he is the golden prince after all, and lions are the "kings of the jungle", despite not living in jungles (that saying always confused me) -  but decided on the king of the British forests instead. Arthur is all about Albion, so having a native animal as his daemon felt much more natural. I doubt he would let Arthur ride him (firstly red deer backs are sloped so it would be very uncomfortable, secondly, it's very undignified) but he would be able to hold his own in battle. I imagine them back to back, circling, the enemy not knowing whether to attack the side with the sword or the side with the antlers and hooves. Ooh, maybe he has antler tips made of metal for when they go into battle, just to make them even more deadly. Red deer are quite stately, and impossible to domesticate - males will jump over ridiculously high fences in the autumn to breed, and to fight other males. I think that fits Arthur quite well. 

I don't know whether or not it would be seen as bad taste to name your daemon after an old god, especially one that was worshipped quite as recently. But maybe Uther would have encouraged it, to show his dominance over the Old Religion. Hm. Food for thought.

 

So, that's it. Happy Valentine's planetgin, I hope you like your present :) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I didn't put in Arthur because he was my first ever attempt at using acrylics and he didn't turn out well.)


End file.
